Ronen Bar, the head of Israeli security agency Shin Bet, said Tuesday that Tel Aviv was developing the “global cyber iron dome” system in cooperation with a number of countries to identify and tackle threats using artificial intelligence (AI).
“The Iron Dome that the Shin Bet is developing in cyberspace is already taking its first steps, the array of alliances is emerging and it has already come into action. We are already cooperating with a number of significant countries in the field and we see the global cyber iron dome beginning to take shape,” the i24NEWS broadcaster quoted Bar as telling the annual International Cyber Week conference hosted by Tel Aviv University.
Bar said that the agency was effectively using AI technology to prevent terror threats, adding that “the AI technology was assimilated into the Shin Bet’s countermeasures machine naturally.”
“We identified a significant number of threats using AI … In order to make sure that AI will lead to evolution and not revolution, we will need cooperation and openness between the technology giants and the security agencies,” he said.
The chief added that the agency realized it was impossible to “win this war with sticks and stones.”
“We are in the depths of the network and see very well what is happening in it: espionage, terrorism, incitement, and foreign influence. The network, like the terrorists’ nests in Jenin and the terror tunnels in Gaza, is not a safe space for our enemies,” he said.
Iron Dome is an Israeli air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries and deployed in 2011. The system is capable of intercepting and destroying short-range rockets and artillery shells in a radius of up to 43 miles.
Israel Missile Defense Organization Director Moshe Patel said in late May that Iron Dome has carried out more than 5,000 successful interceptions of incoming short-range missile attacks since the system was deployed.
